Carnival of the Godless #142

Yes, it’s time for the Carnival of the Godless, that biweekly bastion of blogging about belief and unbelief. I’m happy to be hosting COTG here at No Forbidden Questions. I hope you enjoy your stay at my humble internet abode. (And that you come back to visit often!)

I’ve divided the posts this time into four main categories. However, like nonbelievers themselves, these posts tend to defy categorization, so consider the divisions merely approximate.

Atheist Identity

In Semantics and atheism, Andrew S at Irresistible (Dis)Grace discusses the importance of semantic analysis — in particular focusing on how the terms “atheism” and “agnosticism” are defined and used, by whom and for what possible strategic purpose.

Vjack at Atheist Revolution argues that Sexy atheist women are good for the atheist community, answering criticism of some female atheists’ personal decisions to use their appearance to reach a wider audience.

Atheist, am I, posted over at Disperser Tracks, explains the reasons behind the author’s self-identification as an atheist, and how he answers questions like, “What do you believe in?”

On a lighter note, in My Bumper Says it All, Andrew Bernardin at 360 Degree Skeptic tells us what atheist bumper stickers he’d like to see. My favorite was, “Could God Tell a Falsehood so Great / Even He Would Be Fooled?”

Refuting Religion and the Religious

Naon Tiotami at Homologous Legs gives us a rundown of the latest crazy claims being made by creationists in This Week in Intelligent Design – 10/05/10.

In The Counterfeit Lama, Romeo Vitelli at Providentia tells the story of a New Age religious figure who remained popular (and profitable) even after being exposed as a fraud.

At The Incredible Blog of His Eminence, the Most-High Reverend Atheist, the Reverend explains why liberal religious compromise with nonbelievers can be harder to stomach than fundamentalism, in Parsimony -or- Why liberal evolutionist Christians are loonier than the evolution deniers.

Diana Hsieh at NoodleFood presents a clever drawing of Muhammad, or His Imposter. Hmm… which is it?

In Babies, morals and ethics, ev psych, religion, the Socratic Gadfly takes down an assertion from the NY Times Magazine that cultural (read: religious) morality has been on the whole helpful at getting people to be compassionate their fellow humans rather than forming exclusive “in-groups.”

Another post from Disperser Tracks explains why religion seems like an insufficient way to handle what are honestly very Complicated Issues.

Arizona Atheist brings us Communism and Atheism: Revised and Updated, an extremely thorough and thoughtful refutation of the theist’s common accusation that the many atrocities of the 20th century can be blamed on atheism.

In Choosing our beliefs, NFQ at No Forbidden Questions (yes, that’s me) discusses the difference between the believer’s and the nonbeliever’s approaches to discerning the truth. Can we have real conversations about religious beliefs without tackling this issue first?

Politics & Current Events

In Church & State: a similar story from a different place, Eli at Free Thinking Lebanon discusses the complex realities of Lebanese religious demographics and the challenges Lebanon is facing regarding government entanglement with religion.

Ron Gold at The Invisible Pink Unicorn discusses J. Craig Venter’s recent success in transplanting an entirely synthetic genome into an existing cell, and explains why — just like all the other times this accusation has been thrown around — No One Is “Playing God.”

In Who Is God Angry At Now? Andy at Laughing in Purgatory speculates about the many ways we might interpret the oil rig explosion off the Gulf Coast, in order to discern God’s apparent will.

Atheist/Theist Relations

Ian Bushfield at Terahertz reminds us about Why the debate matters. He explains why, even though arguments about the existence of God may seem dull and repetitive to those well-versed in them, those arguments still make a big difference in many people’s lives.

In Shaming the Atheists, Mike Haubrich, FCD at Quiche Moraine discusses treading the fine line between caring about society’s opinion of us as nonbelievers, and being true to ourselves as we express our own feelings about religions and our lack of belief in them.

In Honey and Flies – My Personal End to Bitterness, Matt Oxley at RagingRev presents some insightful self-reflection and describes his goal of a more positive, welcoming presence as an out atheist, for effective and appropriate interactions with believers.

Almost more a matter of interfaith relations, but in the end exposed as atheist/theist anyhow, is the story of When Religion Hurts. Doctor Biobrain at And Doctor Biobrain’s Response Is… describes the misadventures of a prominent, supposed Christian convert from radical Islam who was lying about his past for profit.

…That’s all for this time! Make sure to keep an eye on the Carnival of the Godless Blog Carnival page to see who the next host will be. (I’ll post an update here when that’s decided, as well.) Use the form there to send in your submission.

Update: His eminence, the most-high Reverend Atheist will be hosting the next edition of COTG at his Incredible Blog! It will go up on June 6, so make sure to get your submissions in by Friday, June 4.